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'Trigger word' set off accused teacher killer, police say

A teenager accused of killing his high school math teacher told police he knocked her out with a "karate chop" before slicing her neck two times with a box cutter, a police detective said Friday in a pre-trial hearing.

A teenager accused of killing his high school math teacher told police he knocked her out with a "karate chop" before slicing her neck two times with a box cutter, a police detective said Friday in a pre-trial hearing.

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Updated: 5:43 PM EST Jan 16, 2015

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WEBVTT THE ACTUAL TEMPERATURE IN BOSTON 10 DEGREES. MAYBE EVEN 9 EARLY TOMORROW MORNING. DRAMATIC CHANGES FOR THE BALANCE OF THE WEEKEND. TROUBLING DETAILS IN CASE OF THE DANVERS TEEN ACCUSED OF MURDERING HIS TEACHER. IT COMES IN THE FORM OF A CONFESSION THAT HIS LAWYERS ARE NOW TRYING TO GET THROWN OUT. JACK HARPER IS LIVE OUTSIDE THE COURTHOUSE IN SALEM. HE DREW THEM A MAP TO THE BODY? HE DID. AND HE WENT FURTHER THAN THAT. THIS IS A SKETCH THAT ONE OF THE DETECTIVES MADE DURING THE INTERVIEW. SEE THE TWO SLASH MARKS RIGHT THERE? DETECTIVES SAY PHILLIP CHISM FILLED THOSE IN TO SHOW WITH HE STABBED THE VICTIM. A FULL CONFESSION, YES. BUT HE STILL NEVER FULLY EXPLAINED HIGHWAY IT EXPLAINED WHY IT HAPPENED. HE SAID THERE WAS SOME TRIGGER WORD THAT GOT HIM ANGRY AND HIS FEELININGS CAN COLLEEN RITZER. HE WOULD NOT REVEAL WHAT THE WORD WAS. HE WAS 14 WHEN POLICE FIRST QUESTIONED HIM ABOUT HIS MATH TEACHER WHO WAS MISSING AND SOON WOULD BE FOUND MURDERED. HE SAID HE KARATE CHOPPED HER NECK AND RENDERED HER UNCONSCIOUS. HE TALKED ABOUT PUTTING HIS HAND ON HER MOUTH AND THEN HE TALKED ABOUT DRAGGING THE BOX CUTTER ACROSS HER NECK WITHOUT IT CAUSING ANY INJURY AND THEN HE SAID THE SECOND TIME IT DID. THE DEFENSE SAYS TEEN'S MOTHER WAS ALSO PRESSURED TO MAKE HER SON TALK. SHE TOLD POLICE HE HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH HIS MATH TEACHER. GOD AS MY WITNESS JUST YESTERDAY OR THE DAY BEFORE HE SAID LOOK HOW GOOD I'M IMPROVING ON MATH AND BROUGHT ME A PIECE OF PAPER AND SHOWED ME AN 80 SOMETHING AND HE LOVED MATH. IN THE TAPED INTERVIEW PHILLIP CHISM TOLD POLICE WHERE THEY WOULD FIND COLLEEN'S BODY. WE ASKED HIM TO DRAW US A MAP OF THE AREA TO KIND OF PINPOINT WHERE SHE WOULD BE. AND WHO DID MOST OF THE DRAWING? SOME OF THIS IS MY WRITING. I TRIED TO DO THE BIGGER LANDMARKS AND THEN HE DID THE ACTUAL DRAWING OF THIS THING HE LABELED AND THEN HE WROTE BODY. THERE WERE SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE STORY ACCORDING TO POLICE. FOR EXAMPLE, HE DENIED THERE WAS A SEXUAL ASSAULT.

'Trigger word' set off accused teacher killer, police say

A teenager accused of killing his high school math teacher told police he knocked her out with a "karate chop" before slicing her neck two times with a box cutter, a police detective said Friday in a pre-trial hearing.